Food. Who would have thought that such a simple word would invoke such varied and strong reactions! 🙂 Food is a constant subject amongst my students…what’s the healthy thing to eat, what do you enjoy eating, how do you eat healthy on a college campus, what do you eat when you are stressed, and so many more conversations.
I myself LOVE food. I enjoy eating; especially my Mom’s cooking! However, over the last couple of years, I’ve been discovering that some foods are better for me then others. I specifically can’t handle eggs or sugar very well. This can get tricky at times. I’ve also been discovering that my body craves veggies and protein. The sinful part of me struggles at times that I can’t eat brownies (still waiting for the egg free ones to be created). However, I do feel better when I eat what my body desires rather then what my appetite craves.
So why the talk about food? I haven’t always understood my struggle with food, but I was reading “Hinds’ Feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnard and it started to make a little sense. She wrote in her preface,
The only way is by learning to accept, day by day, the actual conditions and tests permitted by God, by a continually repeated laying down of our own will and acceptance of his as it is presented to us in the form of the people with whom we have to live and work, and in the things which happen to us. Every acceptance of his will becomes an alter of sacrifice, and every such surrender and abandonment of ourselves to his will is a means of furthering us on the way to the High Places to which he desires to bring every child of his while they are still living on earth.
Eating well for my body is one of my “alters of sacrifice”. Not only does my body function better when I eat correctly, but there is a beautiful surrender to Him that occurs as well. In these moments of battle, I am comforted by the picture of Zephaniah 3:17,
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
This reminds me that He is in the midst of the struggle with me. He will help me if I allow Him to, by laying my desire on the alter of sacrifice. And He will sing loudly over me when I surrender to Him! There is something soothing to my heart in the picture of him singing over me! It reminds me that I’m loved.
While food might not be your “alter of sacrifice”, I encourage you to see the beauty in what He is asking you to surrender. May you experience the “High Places” that he desires for you and hear Him loudly singing over you!
Photo credit: http://sueswink.tumblr.com/post/12276229877
Adventures of a Single Pretzel 